The government cited the need to maintain public order as one of the grounds for the assault. There was also the enforcement of the resolution of the Pecherskyi District Court, which was read before the protesters during the night of the attack. It was found later that such a procedure was illegal since public enforcements are only allowed to be read and served by 10 pm only. The court order was also, in fact, explicit in stating that Vitali Klitschko was forbidden to hinder citizens moving along the main streets. Vitali Klitschko himself was neither informed of that resolution nor given the opportunity to appeal against it.[7] People responsible for the unlawful assault against peaceful protesters have not been identified.

Contents

The Berkut special police units began their attempt clear up Euromaidan at 1:02 am. The Berkut soldiers began to break down the barricades in Instytutska street, while starting a fight with "Freedom" party deputies Ruslan Koshulynskyi, Oleksii Kaida, Andrii Mishchenko and Oleh Osuhovskyi. Two of the deputies were sustained injuring on their face and body.

At 1:33 a.m. Andriy Shevchenko informed the protesters that Berkut forces were going to break the barricades from the side of Mykhailivska Square.[7][8] Violent fights occurred in the Square as the Berkut started destroying the barricade on Instytutska Street, and Titushky started plundering the camp. Although the government concentrated a large number of security forces around the square, protesters did not give up and their number eventually grew. Berkut used tear gas on the protesters and the clouds of the smoke were visible over the crowd as reports about arrested and injured people, including MPs, were being aired in the news. Calls for mass mobilization of Kyiv citizens to the Maidan were spread and many people responded to the call.[9]

The Berkut suspended their assault and protesters were given shields, which were obtained from the Berkut. The Berkut began to regroup and move against the protesters once again. Unarmed protesters with linked arms had been holding the Euromaidan defense line for three hours against the large mass of Berkut from the Instytutska street side of the square.[10] The number of people at Euromaidan grew, but the leaders of Berkut were also trying to regroup forces in order to attack from the other side. Several titushky (thugs) sprang out from the Prorizna street and started to attack people with the intent to organize a hash.[11] There were more than 15 thousand people on the Maidan at this time. The Berkut continued trying to break into the trade union building. With the number of people on the Maidan increasing, the Berkut came closer to the Maidan and tried to encircle it.[11]

As 4,000 Berkut soldiers attacked the square, the bell-ringer of the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery rang the bells in alarm. 8 hours after the assault had begun, Maidan self-defense units stabilized the Euromaidan perimeter by pushing the Berkut fighters back beyond the barricades.[12]

The forceful assault of the peaceful protesters are mostly seen by observers as an overkill. There are those who say that if Yanukovych simply let the protesters be, the demonstrations would have died out of its own.[13] Due to the violent and illegal crackdown, the demonstration proved to be a success, achieving key victories. Once the bells of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral rang in alarm the whole night, as if it was the Middle Ages, protesters began to arrive as reinforcements. The warning alarm system of the National Resistance Headquarters enabled activists to come by cars or passing transport (taxi drivers gave a free ride) to prevent the assault of security forces. The illegal court order served by the assaulting forces was not executed and the government didn’t attempt to enforce it again.

Ultimately, the Euromaidan protest and its crackdown contributed to the collapse of Yanukovych's regime in February 2014. Scholars noted that the demonstration showed an unprecedented tenacity and self-organization on the part of the protesters - phenomena that are considered unique in post-Soviet mass mobilization.[14] Specifically, this aspect also gave rise to an emergent volunteer movement and the rise of in activism of civil society groups in Ukraine. This last is demonstrated by the fact that the Euromaidan protest was not led by opposition politicians or political organizations. The majority of the protesters themselves were not affiliated with any political organization.[15]

The Euromaidan protest also has bearing on the Russian response to the protest and Yanukovych ouster. Its annexation of Crimea and its military incursion into Ukraine were activities that - for a number of observers - indicate a fear of having to contend with "a Maidan of its own, about exercising control in its 'spheres of interests and influence' and about contradictions between East and West, as perceived by Russia."[16]

1.
Euromaidan
–
The scope of the protests expanded, with many calls for the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovych and his government. The protests led to the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, the situation escalated after the violent dispersal of protesters on 30 November, leading to many more protesters joining. By 25 January 2014, the protests had been fueled by the perception of government corruption, abuse of power. Transparency International named President Yanukovych as the top example of corruption in the world, Police and protesters fired live and rubber ammunition across multiple locations in Kiev. Riot police advanced towards Maiden and clashed with protesters but did not fully occupy it, fighting continued the following days which saw the vast majority of casualties. In connection with the events of February 18–20, Yanukovych was forced to make concessions to the opposition to end the bloodshed in Kiev, the Agreement on settlement of political crisis in Ukraine was signed by Vitaly Klitschko, Arseny Yatsenyuk, Oleh Tyahnybok. Vladimir Lukin, representing Russia, refused to sign the agreement, in late February 2014, Yanukovych and many other high government officials fled the country. Protesters gained control of the administration and Yanukovychs private estate. Subsequently, the parliament removed Yanukovych from office, replaced the government with a pro-European one, events in Kiev were soon followed by the Crimean crisis and pro-Russian unrest in Eastern Ukraine. On 24 November 2013, clashes between protesters and police began, Police used tear gas and batons. Protesters also used gas and some fire crackers. After a few days of demonstrations an increasing number of university students joined the protests, the Euromaidan has been characterised as an event of major political symbolism for the European Union itself, particularly as the largest ever pro-European rally in history. The protests continued despite heavy presence, regularly sub-freezing temperatures. In the preceding weeks, protest attendance had fluctuated from 50,000 to 200,000 during organised rallies, violent riots took place 1 December and 19 January through 25 January in response to police brutality and government repression. Starting 23 January, several Western Ukrainian Oblast Governor buildings and regional councils were occupied in a revolt by Euromaidan activists. According to journalist Lecia Bushak writing in the 18 February 2014 issue of Newsweek magazine, Yanukovych then fled to Ukraines second largest city of Kharkiv, refusing to recognise the parliaments decisions. The parliament assigned early elections for May 2014, the term Euromaidan was initially used as a hashtag on Twitter. A Twitter account named Euromaidan was created on the first day of the protests and it soon became popular in the international media

2.
Maidan Nezalezhnosti
–
Maidan Nezalezhnosti is the central square of Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchenko Raion. The square has been known under different names, but often it is called simply Maidan. In the 19th century, the square contained buildings of the city council, Maidan is also a regular site for non-political displays and events. Maidan is a Ukrainian word for square, open space, ultimately from Arabic language ميدان maydān, via Turco-Persian transmission, Persian ميدان meydan meaning field, park, open space, the Arabic word originally meant horse-racing ground, hippodrome. Kropyvnytskyi, Kremenchuk and Odessa have Independent Squares named Ploshcha Nezalezhnosti, Independence Square is one of three squares located along Khreshchatyk, close to the northeastern end of the street. It is situated close to European Square, which is the end of Khreshchatyk. Besides Khreshchatyk, which splits the square in half, several other lead to the square. These include Architect Horodecki Street, Institute Street, Michael Street, Kosciol Street, Minor Zhytomyr Street, Sophia Street, Taras Shevchenko Lane, the square itself is a multi-level location. At ground level is the intersection of Khreshchatyk, which splits Institute Street, underneath the square, the Kurenivsko-Chervonoarmiyska Line of the Kiev Metro stretches across with its station Maidan Nezalezhnosti located underground. Until the 10th century, the future site, as well as the rest of Khreshchatyk, was called Perevisyshch. It was located just to the south of the Kiev City, beyond which were located territories of the Cave Monastery along the Dnieper. At the lower end of Sofiivska vulytsia, which led to the High City and those gates are also mentioned in 1151, and around them lived the Polish population of the city, Lacka Sloboda. The Lyadksi Gates were destroyed during the storm of city by the Mongol army of Batu Khan in 1240, sometime during the 18th century, the new Pecherski Gates were erected, they stood until 1833. Until the early 19th century, the area was a vacant ground known as Goat Swamp. In the 1830s, the first wooden dwellings were built on the site, the most famous Ukrainian writer, Taras Shevchenko lived in that area in 1859, in a building between Mala Zhytomyrska and Mykhailivska vulytsia. Until 1871, it was called the Khreshchatitskaya Ploshchad, it was a location for the local market, in 1876 the Kiev City Duma building was built here, and the area became to be known as the Dumskaya Ploshchad. A line from the Kiev tram, the first electric tram built in the Russian Empire reached the square in 1894

3.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk
–
Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer who served as the 15th Prime Minister of Ukraine from 27 February 2014 to 14 April 2016. Yatsenyuks first government post was as Minister of Economy from 2005 to 2006, subsequently he was Foreign Minister of Ukraine in 2007, Yatsenyuk was one of the leaders of Ukraines second biggest party All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland, and former leader of its parliamentary faction. He became the Prime Minister of Ukraine following the 2014 revolution that removed Viktor Yanukovych from power, in September 2014 Yatsenyuk started the new party Peoples Front. On 10 April 2016, Yatsenyuk announced that he would report to parliament on 12 April, on 14 April 2016, Yatsenyuk was replaced by new Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman. Yatsenyuk was born on May 22,1974, in the Ukrainian SSRs Chernivtsi and his father, historian Petro Ivanovich Yatsenuk, was a professor at the Faculty of History at Chernivtsi National University and has since become deputy dean of its history faculty. Arsenys mother, Maria Grigoriievna Yatsenyuk, has long been a French teacher at high schools. Yatsenyuk also speaks Russian and English as well as having knowledge of Romanian. According to Yatsenyuk, he comes from a family of ethnic Ukrainians and he is of partly Romanian ancestry, one of his ancestors was a citizen of Greater Romania from the region around Chernivtsi. Some sources state he was born tо a family of ethnic Jewish-Ukrainians, however, Yaakov Bleich, a chief rabbi of Ukraine stated, Arseniy Yatsenyuk is not Jewish. Furthermore, Anna Rudnitskaya said, hypothetical Jewishness was never established, after Yatsenyuk began studying at Chernivtsi University in 1992, he set up a student law firm. Yatsenyuk graduated from the university in 1996, and later attended the Chernivtsi Trade-Economics Institute of the Kyiv National Trade-Economics Institute in 2001. In addition to holding a law degree and a degree in accounting and auditing. From December 1992 to September 1997 Yatsenyuk was the president of Yurek Ltd. a law based in Chernivtsi. From January 1998 until September 2001, Yatsenyuk worked in the Aval bank, from November 2003 to February 2005, Yatsenyuk served as the first vice-president of the National Bank of Ukraine under Serhiy Tihipko. After Tihipko left the National Bank, Arseniy Yatsenyuk was put in charge of it, after Vasyl Tsushko was appointed as the new Governor of Odessa Oblast, Tsushko asked Yatsenyuk to serve as his vice-governor, which he served from March 9 to September 2005. From September 27,2005 to August 4,2006, he served as the Minister of Economy of Ukraine in the Yekhanurov Government, Arseniy Yatsenyuk then headed talks about Ukrainian membership in the World Trade Organization. Yatsenyuk also heads the Ukraine-European Union commission, from September 20,2006, he served as the first vice-president of the Head of Secretariat of the President of Ukraine, and the representative of the president in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Yatsenyuk was proposed for the post of Foreign Minister by the President of Ukraine, Yatsenyuk was chosen for the post by the Verkhovna Rada on March 21,2007 with 426 votes, but only after the Ukrainian parliament twice denied the post to Volodymyr Ohryzko

4.
Vitali Klitschko
–
Vitali Volodymyrovych Klitschko is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer. He currently serves as Mayor of Kiev and head of the Kiev City State Administration, Klitschko is a former leader of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc and a former Member of the Ukrainian Parliament. He became actively involved in Ukrainian politics in 2005 and combined this with his boxing career until his retirement from the sport in mid-December 2013. As a boxer, Klitschko is a world heavyweight champion. He held the WBO title from 1999 to 2000, the Ring magazine title from 2004 to 2005, standing at 2.01 metres, Klitschko was renowned for having exceptional ring dominance. With an 87. 23% knockout percentage, he one of the best knockout-to-fight ratio of any champion in heavyweight boxing history. Klitschko is the heavyweight world champion to have never been knocked down in any fight. Alongside George Foreman he is the heavyweight boxer in history to defend a world title after turning 40. Being the first professional boxing champion to hold a PhD degree. His younger brother, Wladimir, is also a former champion who held the unified WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO, The Ring. From 2006 until 2015, Vitali and Wladimir dominated heavyweight boxing, Klitschko formally began his political career in 2006 when he placed second in the Kiev mayoral race. In 2010, he founded the party Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform and was elected into parliament for this party in 2012 and he was a leading figure in the 2013–2014 Euromaidan protests, and he announced his possible candidacy for the Ukrainian presidency but later withdrew and endorsed Petro Poroshenko. He was elected Mayor of Kiev on 25 May 2014, Klitschko headed the election list of the winner of the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, but he gave up his parliamentary seat to stay on as Mayor of Kyiv. On 28 August 2015 the UDAR party merged into Petro Poroshenko Bloc, Klitschko thus became the new party leader. Klitschko was reelected as mayor on 15 November 2015, originally, Klitschko was an amateur kickboxer with a record of 34–1 with 22 knockouts. In 1992, he was defeated in the final of the European Kickboxing Championships +89 kg light contact division by Englishman Pelé Reid when he was knocked out by a kick to the jaw. In 1993, he defeated Ryushi Yanagisawa in the Japanese mixed martial arts promotion Pancrase under WKA Special Rules via R5 decision, in 1994, he defeated Richard Vince by second-round KO to retain his ISKA World Super Heavyweight title. In 1995, he was defeated by knockout at the hands of William van Roosmalen, father of current kickboxer Robin van Roosmalen and he was a world champion six times

5.
Petro Poroshenko
–
Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko is the fifth and current President of Ukraine, in office since 2014. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2011, from 2008 until 2013, Poroshenko headed the Council of Ukraines National Bank. Outside government, Poroshenko has been a prominent oligarch with a career in acquiring and building assets. His most recognized ownerships are Roshen, the confectionery company which has earned him the nickname of Chocolate King, and a TV channel 5 kanal. He was elected president on 10 May 2014, capturing more than 54% of the vote in the first round, thereby winning outright, Poroshenko was born in the city of Bolhrad, in Odessa Oblast, on 26 September 1965. He also spent his childhood and youth in Bendery, where his father Oleksiy was heading a machine building plant. In his youth, Poroshenko practiced judo and sambo, and was Candidate for Master of Sport of the USSR, despite good grades he was not awarded the normal gold medal at graduation, and on his report card he was given a C for his behavior. After getting into a fight with four Soviet Army cadets at the military commissariat, in 1989, Poroshenko graduated, having started studying in 1982, with a degree in economics from the international relations and law department at the Kiev State University. At this university he was friends with Mikheil Saakashvili who he in May 2015 would appoint as Governor of Odessa Oblast, in 1984 Poroshenko married a medical student, Maryna Perevedentseva. Their first son, Oleksiy, was born in 1985, from 1989 to 1992 Poroshenko was an assistant at the universitys international economic relations department. At the same time, he was deputy director of the Republic Union of Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs, Poroshenkos brother, Mykhailo, older by eight years, died in a 1997 car accident under mysterious circumstances. His business success in the confectionery industry earned him the nickname Chocolate King, Poroshenkos business empire also includes several car and bus plants, Kuznya na Rybalskomu shipyard, the 5 Kanal television channel, as well as other businesses in Ukraine. According to Poroshenko since becoming President of Ukraine he has relinquished the management of his businesses, in March 2012, Forbes placed him on the Forbes list of billionaires at 1, 153rd place, with $1 billion. As of May 2015, Poroshenkos net worth was about $720 million, losing 25 percent profit ever since Russias ban of Roshen products and the state of the Ukrainian economy. The estimate of his assets was set at 979 million US dollars, a 20% growth, the article noted that Poroshenko remained one of the only two European leaders who owned a business empire of such scale, with Silvio Berlusconi being the other one. A number of businesses were part of the Ukrprominvest which Poroshenko headed in 1993–1998. The investment group was dissolved in April 2012, Poroshenko has stated that upon beginning his political activity he passed on his holdings to a trust fund. Bogdan group Roshen group 5 Kanal television channel Kuznya na Rybalskomu shipyard Poroshenko first won a seat in the Verkhovna Rada in 1998 for the 12th single-mandate constituency

6.
Ruslana
–
Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko, known mononymously as Ruslana, is a World Music Award and Eurovision Song Contest winning artist, holding the title of Peoples Artist of Ukraine. She is also a former MP serving as deputy in the Ukrainian parliament for the Our Ukraine Party, Ruslana was the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in Ukraine in 2004-2005. She is recognized as the most successful Ukrainian female solo artist internationally and was included in the top 10 most influential women of 2013 by the Forbes magazine, the U. S. Secretary of State honored her with the International Women of Courage Award in March 2014. She has been named an honorary citizen of her hometown Lviv and was nominated to receive the title Hero of Ukraine and she is a singer, songwriter, producer, musical conductor, multi-instrumentalist, dancer, voice actress and social activist. She writes, composes and produces her own songs and music videos, since 28 December 1995 she has been married to Oleksandr Ksenofontov, a Ukrainian record producer. Together they have run the company Luxen Studio since 1993, producing radio, Ruslana was the first artist from the former Soviet Union to officially receive a platinum disc, her Dyki tantsi album selling more than 170,000 copies in the first 100 days after its release. This album is the best selling Ukrainian album to date, together with its English version and she won the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Wild Dances receiving 280 points, which at that time was a record of points. Following her victory, she rose to fame in Europe and became one of the biggest pop stars from the Eastern part of the continent and her winning song Wild Dances dominated the European charts for 97 weeks peaking at number one in Belgium for 10 consecutive weeks. Her Eurovision winning song was included on the compilation album called The Very Best of Eurovision celebrating the 60th anniversary of the contest. Her repertoire includes songs performed mainly in Ukrainian and English, but she also recorded versions in Spanish. Ruslana was born on 24 May 1973 in Lviv, Ukraine to Ukrainian father Stepan Lyzhychko and she was raised in the Lviv Oblast. After finishing secondary school, Ruslana entered the Lviv Conservatory where she graduated as a classical pianist, Ruslana started her career as the winner of the Slavianski Bazaar song competition in Vitebsk, Belarus in 1996 with the song Oj, letili dyki husi. In the same year, she was among the nominees for the Ukrainian Singer of the Year award, since her early career, Ruslanas producer was Oleksandr Ksenofontov, whom she married in 1995. Her first album Myt Vesny – Dzvinkyi Viter, released in 1998, still, wider recognition did not come until 1998 with the song Svitanok and the album Myt Vesny – Dzvinkyj Viter Live. Svitanok was the first Ukrainian big-budget music video, in 1998, Ruslana was awarded Person of the Year, the song Svitanok was awarded Song of the Year and its accompanying music video was awarded Music Video of the Year. In the second half of 1998, she organized a charity tour which had the aim of raising funds for the restoration of the old castles from Western Ukraine, the tour was a success and thanks to Ruslanas efforts, the Zolochiv Castle was restored. In 1999, she worked on the Christmas musical Ostanne rizdvo 90th, with the video clip to the song Znaju ya, which is about the ancient people of the Hutsuls living in the Ukrainian Carpathians, Ruslana set new standards for modern video clip filming. In 1995, Ruslana graduated from the Lviv Conservatory as professional conductor and she was the student of one of the most prominent Ukrainian composers and conductors, Mykola Kolessa who is regarded as the father of the Ukrainian conducting school

7.
Tetiana Chornovol
–
Tetiana Mykolayivna Chornovol is a Ukrainian journalist and civic activist, and one of the leaders in the Euromaidan protest campaign. She is known for investigative reports about corruption in Ukraine, as well as for her adventurous direct actions, in 2014, she was elected to the Verkhovna Rada. On 25 December 2013, Chornovol was the victim of a published and condemned severe beating. Currently, she is a member of the faction of the party Peoples Front, also member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on national security. Tetiana Chornovol was born in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union and her parents come from Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine. Currently she lives in the Kiev suburb of Hora located in Boryspil Raion, in 2001, she graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of the Kyiv International Institute of Linguistics and Law. Chornovol has been employed by or freelanced for many Ukrainian publications focusing on politics and she also reported from post-Soviet armed conflicts in which UNA-UNSO volunteers participated. From 2001 to 2004, she led the Theme of the heading in the Peak magazine. In 2004, she began specializing in journalism, contributing to several Ukrainian online newspapers, including Ukrayinska Pravda, Levyi Bereg. Her focus topics are suspicious personal wealth of Ukrainian politicians, public servants, Chornovol had interviewed his former classmates and neighbors, and delved into his early years. Chornovol refused to issue an apology or acknowledge any wrongdoing, Obozrevatel said it was not invited or informed of the date of the court hearing, and claimed that the decisions of British judges are not legitimate in Ukraine. Other articles by Chornovol addressed the alleged organized crime background of then-President Viktor Yanukovych, the material was mentioned in her conversations with editors and colleagues. Chornovol comes from an ultra right political background, She joined the UNA-UNSO organization at age 17, however, she soon became disillusioned with extremist politics, but remained committed to social activism. During Ukraine without Kuchma, she handcuffed herself to the rails in the Kiev Passenger Railway Station with a fellow female protester. While she was climbing the crane, construction workers threw bricks at her and she was removed from the council assembly hall cornice by firemen. The automobile turned out to be a communications intelligence vehicle of the Security Service of Ukraine, on 1 December 2013, Chornovol was widely reported smashing windows at Kiev City Hall in the course of protesters attempts to seize the building. As she later explained to journalist colleagues, storming and occupying city hall was necessary for warming activists from freezing temperatures, Chornovol unsuccessfully ran in the 2012 parliamentary election in the suburban Lviv Oblast constituency Horodok, representing the oppositional Batkivshchyna party. She came second after non-partisan Yaroslav Dubnevych, who got 47. 04% of the votes against Chornovols 38. 88%, among dirty methods applied by her opponents were rumours convincing peasant women that she was a witch

8.
Viktor Yanukovych
–
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth President of Ukraine from February 2010 until his removal from power in February 2014. He is currently in exile in Russia and wanted by Ukraine for high treason, Yanukovych served as the governor of Donetsk Oblast, a province in eastern Ukraine, from 1997 to 2002. He was Prime Minister of Ukraine from 21 November 2002 to 31 December 2004, Yanukovych first ran for president in 2004, he advanced to the runoff election, and initially defeated his opponent. However, the election was fraught with allegations of fraud and voter intimidation and this caused widespread citizen protests and Kievs Independence Square was occupied in what became known as the Orange Revolution. The Ukrainian Supreme Court nullified the election, and ordered a second runoff. Yanukovych lost this second election to Viktor Yushchenko. Yanukovych served as Prime Minister for a time from 4 August 2006 to 18 December 2007. Yanukovych was elected President in 2010, defeating Yulia Tymoshenko, November 2013 saw the beginning of a series of events that led to his ousting as President. Yanukovych rejected a pending EU association agreement, choosing instead to pursue a Russian loan bailout and this led to popular protests and the occupation of Kievs Independence Square, a series of events dubbed the Euromaidan by young pro-European Union Ukrainians. In January 2014, this developed into deadly clashes in Independence Square and in areas across Ukraine, as Ukrainian citizens confronted the Berkut. In February 2014, Ukraine appeared to be on the brink of civil war, on 21 February 2014, Yanukovych claimed that, after lengthy discussions, he had reached an agreement with the opposition. Later that day, however, he fled the capital for Kharkiv, travelling next to Crimea, on 22 February, the Ukrainian parliament voted to remove him from his post, on the grounds that he was unable to fulfill his duties. Parliament set 25 May as the date for the election to select his replacement. After his departure, Yanukovych conducted several press conferences, in one of these, he declared himself to remain the legitimate head of the Ukrainian state elected in a free vote by Ukrainian citizens. On the same day, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he didnt know anything about this, on 18 June 2015, Yanukovych was officially deprived of the title of President of Ukraine by the Supreme Rada of Ukraine. Viktor Yanukovych was born in the village of Zhukovka near Yenakiieve in Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR and he endured a very hard childhood about which he has stated, My childhood was difficult and hungry. I grew up without my mother who died when I was two, I went around bare-footed on the streets. I had to fight for every day

9.
Khreshchatyk
–
Khreshchatyk is the main street of Kyiv, Ukraine. The street has a length of 1.3 km and it stretches from the European Square through the Maidan and to Bessarabska Square where the Besarabsky Market is located. The entire street was destroyed during World War II by the retreating Red Army troops. Among prominent buildings that did not survive were the Kiev City Duma, the Kiev Stock Exchange, Hotel Natsional, the street has been significantly renovated during the modern period of Ukraines independence. Today, the street is still significant to administrative and business city organizations, as of 2010, Khreshchatyk is included in the Top 20 of most expensive shopping streets in Europe. The name of Khreshchatyk is believed to be derived from the Slavic word krest or khrest and it lies in a valley that is crossed by several ravines. When looked at from above, the valley resembles a cross, a small river, the Khreshchatyk River, a tributary of Kievs Lybid River, ran along much of the valley, and still runs underground along much of the street. The development of the area started in the 19th century. The ravine was filled and accelerating construction quickly followed, by the middle 19th century, Khreshchatyk was developed as Kievs main thoroughfare in the climate of rapid growth of the city during the Industrial Revolution in Imperial Russia. The street soon became the center of Kievs commercial life, as the city developed into the main commercial center in the Empires south-west. In 1892, the first electric line in the Russian Empire ran in Kiev and by 1894. The street was served by the tram for about 40 years, on May 9,1920, the Polish army under General Rydz-Smigly celebrated their capture of Kiev by a ceremonial parade on Khreshchatyk. They were driven out by the Bolshevik counter-offensive within weeks, between the wars, Khreshchatyk underwent major development and reconstruction. Between 1923 and 1937, the street was named after V. V, vorovsky, an early Bolshevik diplomat assassinated in Switzerland. In the mid-1930s, the lines were deconstructed, and the trams replaced by trolleybuses. During World War II, almost every building on the street was mined with explosives by the retreating Red Army troops, in September 1941, after German troops occupied the city, explosions were set off by radio-controlled fuses from over 400 kilometres away. The demolition of three hundred buildings on Khreshchatyk became the first operation in history where the long-distance radio-controlled explosions were used for military purposes. Much of the historic center of Kiev was demolished

10.
Pecherskyi District
–
Pecherskyi District is an urban district of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It line within the historical neighborhood, while also including some other historical areas. The Pechersk neighborhood is located on the adjoining the right bank of the Dnieper River. The two geographic entities are often confused together, the Pecherskyi District can be considered as the very heart of Ukraine. Pechersk is one of the most important cultural areas of Kiev, the settlement near the Lavra has formed sometime in the 12th century. It was reformed out of the historical Berestiv royal estate that was adjacent to the Kiev Golden Gates, beresta is a local name of the bark of a birch tree which at that time was utilized in making of shoes as well as used as a writing medium. The settlement was renamed into the town of Pechersk sometime in the 16th-17th centuries, because of that new neighborhoods and areas were added to its direct administration. When in the 1840s, the New Kiev fortress was built Pechersk incorporated the settlement of Vasylkivska Rohatka that was founded in 1706, the Vasylkivs Fork was located in the vicinity of Citadel street where the Vasylkivs gates once stood. The rebellion gave the name to one of the streets in the neighborhood during the Soviet times to give the impression of pride for the support of the Bolshevik regime. Later many administrative, educational, research and cultural institutions were founded in the neighborhood, such as the Central Election Commission, two universities and several theaters. Since the 1930s, Pechersk is also considered the center of the city. However, this area is in fact the Lypky historical neighborhood within Pecherskyi District. Lypky is also notable by its consistent and distinctive Soviet architecture, purposely designed for a quarter of government buildings. Many other historical and architectural monuments are situated here, here is located Askolds Grave which was depicted by Taras Shevchenko on his painting of 1846. Around the burial was created the Askold Grave Park and was built a church that later was reconstructed into the brick one designed by Andriy Ivanovych Melensky. The churchs name is the Saint Nicolas the Miracle-worker Church or Rotonda, there are large residential, industrial, healthcare and military areas in the district, as well as a few picturesque parks and sports venues like the Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium. Many administrative and educational facilities are situated in the district, the famous Art nouveau House with Chimaeras and gigantic statue of Mother Motherland are also located in the Pecherskyi District. After the declaration of Ukrainian independence in 1991, the Pecherskyi District retained and developed its role also becoming a residential area

11.
St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery
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St. Michaels Golden-Domed Monastery is a functioning monastery in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. The monastery is located on the bank of the Dnieper River on the edge of a bluff northeast of the Saint Sophia Cathedral. The site is located in the historic administrative Uppertown and overlooks the citys commercial and merchant quarter. The exterior of the structure was rebuilt in the Ukrainian Baroque style in the 18th century while the interior remained in its original Byzantine style, the original cathedral was demolished by the Soviet authorities in the 1930s, but was reconstructed and opened in 1999 following Ukrainian independence in 1991. Half a century later, his son, Sviatopolk II Iziaslavych, is recorded as commissioning a monastery dedicated to his own patron saint. One reason for building the church may have been Svyatopolks recent victory over the nomadic Polovtsians, as Michael the Archangel was considered a patron of warriors and victories. In 1906, a hoard of silver and gold jewellery was discovered in a metal casket on Trekhsvyatytelska Street. Gold jewellery from the hoard is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York while the silver jewellery, the hoard is dated to the 11th-12th centuries and was probably hidden at the time of the Tartar invasions and the Sack of Kiev in 1240. The monastery was regarded as a cloister of Svyatopolks family. During the Mongol invasion in 1240, the monastery is believed to have been damaged seriously, the Mongols damaged the cathedral and removed its gold-plated domes. The cloister subsequently fell into disrepair and there is no documentation of it for the two and a half centuries. By 1496, the monastery had been revived and its name was changed from St. Demetrius Monastery to St. Michaels after the church built by Sviatopolk II. After numerous restorations and enlargements during the century, it gradually became one of the most popular. In 1620, Iov Boretsky made it the residence of the renewed Orthodox metropolitan of Kiev, the monastery enjoyed the patronage of hetmans and other benefactors throughout the years. Although most of the grounds were secularized in the late eighteenth century. The monastery served as the residence of the bishop of Chernigov after 1800, a precentors school was located on the monastery grounds, many prominent composers, such as Kyrylo Stetsenko and Yakiv Yatsynevych, either studied or taught at the school. In 1870, about 100,000 pilgrims paid tribute to St. Barbara at St. Michaels Monastery. Before the Russian Revolution in 1917, rings manufactured and blessed at St. Michaels Monastery and they usually served as good luck charms and, according to popular beliefs, occasionally protected against witchcraft but were also effective against serious illnesses and sudden death

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Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation
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The Ukrainian territory of Crimea was annexed by the Russian Federation on 18 March 2014. On 23 February 2014, pro-Russian demonstrations were held in the Crimean city of Sevastopol and it led to the other members of the then G8 suspending Russia from the group, then introducing the first round of sanctions against the country. The resolution calls upon all States and international organizations not to recognize or to imply the recognition of Russias annexation, the Russian Federation opposes the annexation label, with Putin defending the referendum as complying with the principle of self-determination of peoples. In July 2015, Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said that Crimea had been integrated into Russia. Crimea became part of the Russian Empire in 1783, when the Crimean Khanate was annexed, initially it was incorporated into the Empire as Taurida Oblast but in 1795 it was merged into Novorossiysk Governorate and then, in 1802, transferred to the Taurida Governorate. A series of short-lived governments were established during first stages of the Russian Civil War, in October 1921, the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Russian SFSR was instituted. In 1954, the Crimean Oblast was transferred from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. In 1989, under perestroika, the Supreme Soviet declared that the deportation of the Crimean Tatars under Stalin had been illegal, in 1990, the Soviet of the Crimean Oblast proposed the restoration of the Crimean ASSR. The oblast conducted a referendum in 1991, which asked whether Crimea should be elevated into a signatory of the New Union Treaty, by that time, though, the dissolution of the Soviet Union was well underway. The Crimean ASSR was restored for less than a year as part of Soviet Ukraine before Ukrainian independence, newly independent Ukraine maintained Crimeas autonomous status, while the Supreme Council of Crimea affirmed the peninsulas sovereignty as a part of Ukraine. The autonomous status of Crimea was limited by Ukrainian authorities in 1995, on 24 August 2009, anti-Ukrainian demonstrations were held in Crimea by ethnic Russian residents. Sergei Tsekov said then that he hoped that Russia would treat Crimea the same way as it had treated South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Yanukovych won the 2010 presidential election with strong support from voters in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and southern and eastern Ukraine. The Crimean autonomous government strongly supported Yanukovych and condemned the protests, on 4 February 2014, the Presidium of the Supreme Council considered holding a referendum on the peninsulas status, and asked the Russian government to guarantee the vote. The Security Service of Ukraine responded by opening a case to investigate the possible subversion of Ukraines territorial integrity. The Euromaidan protests came to a head in late February 2014, arseniy Yatsenyuk was appointed by the Rada to serve as the head of a caretaker government until new presidential and parliament elections could be held. This new government was recognised internationally, though the Russian government said that these events had been a coup détat, in January 2014 the Sevastopol city council had already called for formation of peoples militia units to ensure firm defence of the city from extremism. Crimean parliament members called for a meeting on 21 February. Crimean Tatar Mejlis chairman Mustafa Dzhemilev said that he suspected that the meeting was arranged to call for Russian military intervention in Crimea

Clockwise from top left: A large EU flag is waved across Maidan on 27 November 2013, opposition activist and popular singer Ruslana addresses the crowds on Maidan on 29 November 2013, Pro EU rally on Maidan, Euromaidan on European Square on 1 December, tree decorated with flags and posters, crowds direct hose at militsiya, plinth of the toppled Lenin statue